Manchester and the rest of the UK has been blessed with dry, sunny, and warm weather for some time now. And while many have woken up today again to blue skies this could all come to an abrupt end later today.
Earlier this week the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms to hit much of the UK. Most of Greater Manchester was included in this warning too.
However, on Thursday this warning was extended with thunderstorms expected to hit the whole region over this weekend. Today's (Saturday) warning is in place from 2pm to 9pm today.
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The Met Office warning says: "Whilst many places will be largely dry, thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail are likely to develop in some places on Saturday afternoon." It adds that this could cause areas to flood quickly and possible delays to the road network due to this.
Forecasts for areas within the warning zone - which covers the boroughs of Stockport, Trafford, Manchester, and areas such as Leigh and east Manchester and much of Tameside - predict that the weather will be sunny and dry all morning and for most of the afternoon.
But, the Met Office predicts around 4pm to 6pm rain and thunder and lightning could hit this area within the warning zone. This isn't expected for long, with the dry weather returning for the rest of the evening, although there may be a lack of sun.
Not all boroughs are set to be hit by thunderstorms today, according to the Met Office. Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, and Oldham are not included within the yellow weather warning issued for today.
However, each area is still forecast to be hit by thunderstorms later this afternoon. Wigan is forecast to be worst hit with storms predicted from 4pm to 7pm, with all the other boroughs mentioned expected to be hit by the stormy weather over this period too.
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